By Eric Goldwein & Michael Kelley

Photo by Jack Fedak IV/ The Lafayette

Bouncing back from their Sunday loss to Lehigh, the Lafayette Men’s Basketball Team defeated Colgate 82-76 this past Wednesday, but were upstaged by their own coach.

Fran O’Hanlon, in his 17th season, set a new Patriot League record for wins, recording his 235th conference victory. In his time here on College Hill, O’Hanlon has won three Patriot League Championships and has recently guided the Leopards to two straight championship game appearances.

Jim Mower ‘12, who has played under O’Hanlon for four years, has learned a lot and his progression as a player has been evident through his time here at Lafayette.

“I didn’t have a great freshman year but Coach O gave me a list of things to improve on for the future,” Mower said. “He’s all about constantly improving, and I think that’s why we do so much better at the end of the season and in the league tournament.”

Ryan Willen ‘12 paced the Leopards with 18 points in the Wednesday night battle, as the Leopards shot an impressive 56 percent from the field. Willen went to the line nine times, something he has been doing on a more consistent basis as of late. “I try to take advantage of opportunities to get into the paint whenever I can,” Willen said. “Sometimes you get the call and sometimes you don’t, but lately I’ve been able to get to the line.”

Trailing by two at halftime, the Leopards picked things up in the second half, outscoring the Raiders by eight in what was an important game in terms of the overall Patriot League standings. The Leopards are now in a 3-way tie for second place with American and Lehigh. Defending champion Bucknell sits in first place at 6-0 in league play. With eight games in league play left, every game is vital, especially considering home court advantage in the Patriot League tournament is on the line.

Against the Raiders, the Leopards brought a balanced attack, with four players reaching double figures in points. DanTrist ‘15 was among those four with 13 points, and has improved his play as the season has progressed.

“I have been progressing well in terms of the long run,” said Trist. “The coaches and seniors have helped me a lot to adapt to the speed of the game.” Trist recently won his first Patriot League Rookie of the Week award.

Joining Trist and Willen in double figures was Joey Ptasinski ’15 with 13 points and Tony Johnson ’13 with 10 points. Johnson also added 7 assists.

Johnson, who was out for the majority of the season with a back injury, has been working his way back into the swing of things, and played 34 minutes tonight, a season high. “It has been a slow process but I have definitely been getting more comfortable on the court,” Johnson said. “And it never seems to hurt as much after a win.”

This past Sunday, the Kirby Field House was packed as the Leopards took on the archrival Mountain Hawks. With Patriot League standings on the line, the two teams battled it out, but the Mountain Hawks managed to pull away late in the game, due to stellar play by C.J. McCollum ’13, who registered nineteen second half points.

“I thought we did a good job covering him in the first half,” Mower said. “In the second half, though, he got his confidence going with some easy points off turnovers and trips to the foul line.”

Well into the second half of the season, the action is starting to heat up with a lot to gain in terms of standings and seeding for the Patriot League Tournament. Tomorrow, the Leopards square off with American University, a team they went to double OT with twice last season.